Stars: 4.0 out of 5.0
Pros: Lots of Seating, Great Presentation, Quality Food
Cons: Long Wait, Our Chef Was Lackluster
New Years Eve is a weird holiday to me. Everyone always seems so pumped up and excited for the new year. People are so excited to forget the past and jump into an unknown future with reckless abandon, a noise maker in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. Not me though. I walked towards 2014 with my arm around 2013's shoulders. Sure, I'm excited for the future, but I wasn't willing to just push aside the past to get there. Anyway, I have digressed very far from the purpose of this post, so I'll hastily get back to it. CB, LB and I wanted hibachi for dinner to ring in 2014 so hibachi is what we had.
Kenji Hibachi (Kenji Restaurant) is located out in Short Pump in a section of stores near the mall. It's fairly unassuming from the outside with no real defining features to speak of. You walk into their lobby which is fairly large ad has a very nice water wall. You step into the main body of the restaurant to find the hostess. It's there that you realize how impressively big the place is. The hibachi tables sit to the left with a regular dining area to the right. I was kinda surprised to be honest.
LB had made a reservation earlier in the day so that we wouldn't have to wait long to be seated. She gave the hostess her name and we were told it would only be a few minutes. Apparently, my definition of a few minutes and the hostesses definition were slightly different. We waited 45 minutes and watched 3 different tables that sat 8-10 people turn over before we were called to sit down. I understand that sometimes there's a wait, but be honest about it. It did give me time to start a nice conversation about the chick wearing the see-thru dress that REALLY shouldn't have been... Poor outfit choice to greet 2014 in unless you want it to come in vomiting...
When we sat down there were already menus laid out. Life became serious as we took some time to ponder our order. LB went with shrimp & scallops. CB went with filet & shrimp. I chose chicken & shrimp myself. With our orders locked in, final answer, we went back to casual conversation. As we talked we got the standard soup and salad (with ginger dressing). We ate these eagerly awaiting our hibachi chef to begin the magic.
Our chef came out, checked everyone's order and got the show underway. There was a lot of fancy knife work, which I always appreciate. I love the skill involved. Plus, I want knives that damn sharp in my kitchen. Our chef wasn't amazing, but he was very good. He was a little older and didn't show quite as much flair for the dramatic as some of the other younger chefs did. That's a tad disappointing as part of a good hibachi meal is an entertaining chef. Still, he cooked everything well and left us to polish it off.
The food was fairly good from beginning to end. The dressing on the salad is/was/always shall be a great part of the meal for me. I'm sure it's very basic, but I always love it's flavor. My shrimp & chicken were well seasoned and filling. The rice and veggies were excellent. I heart rice like it was a member of my family. I could eat it with every meal. So, I appreciate when it's cooked well. This truly was. A very nice last meal of 2013.
Kenj Hibachi is worth a try if you are looking for quality hibachi in Short Pump for Near West End prices. Just keep your fingers crossed for a young chef. They got that sprynss to them.
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